takes place in Melbourne, Australia. Horses from all over the world, including New Zealand, compete in the prestigious Melbourne Cup.
When Andrea Bank was asked to ride a horse up Queen Street as advertising for Auckland’s Sky City casino and its Melbourne Cup promotion, she immediately thought of the Hanoverian stallion, Limonit, with his unflappable attitude, his love of photo opportunities and his experience in the quadrille team in Germany. He would not be bothered with crowds.
“We were a nervous group” said Annie Wills, “that trucked him into the underground carpark at Sky City although Andrea never had a qualm – and rightly so. From the moment he got off the truck and Andrea jumped on he was an absolute gentleman and not at all worried about where he was or the fact that his rider was wearing ostrich feathers.”
Supported by Police and others, with her parents following in the horsetruck, Andrea, managing to ride looking fabulous in a red lycra body suit and ostrich feathers supplied by Sky City, rode down Albert street to the viaduct and then up Queen Street in lunchtime traffic. Crowds of people and children wanted photos with Limonit. From the moment the first flash went off he didn’t stop posing.
Throughout the whole event, Limonit displayed the calm good manners that have become his hallmark. He and Andrea carried the performance off with panache, both literally and figuratively.
